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As expected, the second starting flight of the 2016 European Poker Tour (EPT) Malta Main Event was significantly larger than the first. 134 players competed in Sunday’s Day 1A, fewer than the number of players who survived Day 1B to make it to Day 2. Day 1B’s player total was 326, nearly two and a half times more than the first starting flight. Hungary’s Andras Nemeth emerged as the chip leader when all was said and done, carrying 192,700 chips into Tuesday’s play, the most of any player remaining in the tournament.
According to TheHendonMob.com, Nemeth has earned just shy of $1 million in his live tournament career. His biggest cash came back in 2009 – the second cash he has on record – when he finished fourth in the Master Classics of Poker 2009 in Amsterdam for €135,432 ($201,182).
After Nemeth, the top of the leader board is congested. Three players – Day 1A chip leader Dan Shak, Armin Mette, and Pasi Sormunen – all have more than 183,000 chips. There is still a long way to go in the tournament, so those numbers don’t necessarily mean anything significant, but it is clear that nobody is running away with the title just yet.
One of the oddest hands of the day came less than 15 minutes into play. It happened so quickly that PokerNews’ floor reporters had to get the story of the hand from one of the players involved, Alexander Ivarsson. Ivarsson had already taken some of Sai Wu’s chips, but he clearly didn’t expect the blow up that was to come.
Wu limped into the pot pre-flop, another player raised to 375 chips (remember, this is the beginning of the tourney – we’re only dealing with three-figure bets at the outset with starting stacks of 30,000 chips) and Ivarsson re-raised to 1,000. Wu called and the other player dropped out, bringing on a flop of A-T-5. Wu checked, Ivarsson bet 1,200, and then Wu raised it to 2,700. Ivarsson decided to re-raise her to 6,700 and she was content to just call. The turn was a Ten and Ivarsson bet 6,000, an amount which Wu called. He slowed down on the river 7, checking to Wu, who moved all-in for 13,000. Ivarsson quickly called.
They both had to have big hands then, right? Well, Ivarsson did – he had A-T, good for a turned full house. Wu, on the other hand, had just A-9 for two pair, Aces and Tens. A bluff gone bad? Probably. But man, did it leave some people scratching their heads.
The 223 remaining players from the two starting flights have gathered at the Casino Portomaso for Day 2. It is well underway already because time zones. We’ll provide another update tomorrow.
2016 European Poker Tour Malta Main Event – Day 1B Chip Leaders
1. Andras Nemeth – 192,700
2. Armin Mette – 183,700
3. Anton Bertilsson – 155,200
4. Mats Karlsson – 150,200
5. Roberto Romanello – 148,300
6. Eugene Katchalov – 143,900
7. Sarah Herzali – 142,400
8. Xixiang Luo – 139,000
9. Vicente Delgado – 133,300
10. John Gulino – 129,600
2016 European Poker Tour Malta Main Event – Combined Day 1 Chip Leaders
1. Andras Nemeth – 192,700
2. Dan Shak – 185,100
3. Armin Mette – 183,700
4. Pasi Sormunen – 183,600
5. Alex Brand – 163,300
6. Anton Bertilsson – 155,200
7. Mats Karlsson – 150,200
8. Roberto Romanello – 148,300
9. Frederik Jensen – 147,800
10. Ole Schemion – 147,500